Houses
by DragonsAdventuresAndDeathOhMy
Summary: The four Hogwarts Houses do not get along with each other, so when four third years from different houses are forced together tensions are sure to arise. Secrets will be uncovered, and mysteries better be solved-or someone can die. In a world full of magic, nothing is certain. Except for one thing :This year was going to definitely be different. Apparently Harry Potter is coming.
1. Chapter One, A Chance Meeting(s)

The First Chapter:  
AKA: How a Bunch of Strangers Made it Their Personal Mission to Make My Life Hell.

Some people don't believe in coincidences, some people do - but seeing as those people probably still believe in the tooth fairy their opinion will not be noted. Now, seeing as I don't believe in a tiny minuscule person that flies around collecting toddlers sugar-coated fangs you can correctly assume that I sure as hell don't believe there is such a thing as coincidences. However, on the day I met _them_ , my beliefs where probably still on vacation, otherwise I may have approached the situation differently, and maybe might have even not ended up in mess. But, alas, as much as coincidences may not be a thing, destiny is. Which means that no matter what my original attitude was, I probably still would've ended up in the exact same spot with the exact same people.

Ah yes. Destiny. My old enemy. How many times had it gotten in the way of my plans? The answer was a simple one. To many times. Had it not been for its meddlesome fingers plucking at the strings of fate, my life would have been different. Very different. Many may disagree, arguing that destiny is just a figment of our imagination, put there so that the lesser of us may be able to understand why things may happen. They even go as far as to say that we build it inside our heads as a coping mechanism of something to blame when things go wrong.

I will probably be the first among the crowd to admit that I have blamed destiny for practically everything that went wrong with my life. And I would've been right in blaming it too. Was I so delusional in doing so? Probably. I've never really been known for having a sane head upon my shoulders - actually, now that its been brought to my attention, none of really came close to what a person's description of 'sane' would be. Then again, we where a bunch of Witches/Wizards that go to a magic school.  
So, destiny, coincidences, Witches & Wizards, school, and magic. Mix them all together, and you get the beginning. Where it all started. The first step of to 100,000 foot journey.

It was the first day of my Third Year of Hogwarts. I had gotten up extremely early that day just so I could come to the train station (run into a wall) and get an empty compartment. After having to spend my first year with a bunch of rowdy Gryffindors, I had made it my personal mission to get my own compartment, and glare at anyone who had dared to even look at the door twice. They generally ran away quickly after that.

Letting out an angry sigh, I glared at my book. For a magic school, it really wasn't that much of a magic transportation, was it? I mean, a _train_? Why couldn't the founders have dreamt up something a little more creative. Like flying carpets. Or Floo Powder. Heck, that was already a thing! So why couldn't we use it? Well, according to Headmaster Dumbledor it 'wasn't safe'.

"Pompous pratt." I muttered under my breath, thinking of the grey-bearded wizard. I didn't really mean it - although that was mostly because I was more then certain we was capable enough to utterly destroy me before I even blinked.

"Who is?"

Upon hearing a strangers voice, my head whipped up to see a short girl with a ginger pixie cut leaning against the compartment door- _my side_ of the compartment door.

Ignoring her question, I shot her a glare over the book cover, "Did I say you could come in?".

"Nope!" She chipped, jumping onto the opposite seat, positioning her back away from the door and tucking her knees in under her chin, "I _was_ going to ask, but you seemed a bit preoccupied insulting the air."

I wisely decided not to engage in a verbal spar with the red-headed Scotsm'n, and instead focused my attention on the book, continuing my internal scowling. The red-head tried to get my attention, but I tuned her out, flipping a page in my book instead of rising up to her words.

"Erklings are elfish creatures, three feet tall on average..." I mumbled, tracing a pale finger under the words on the page, trying my hardest to focus on creatures eating habits then the yelling and shouting that had started outside the compartment. I caught the red heads dark green eyes, and gave her a slight glare, mentally conveying to her that I blamed the commotion on her appearance. She just gave a smirk in response.

The shouting grew louder and more intolerable, and it became impossible to even concentrate on the bloody pictured. Slamming the book shut, I stood up ready to go out there and give the jeering crowd a piece of my mind. Before I could even touch the door handle, it flew open. A frazzled messy haired boy rushed in, slamming the door behind him. I stood there kind of shocked, debating whether or not to throw him back out into the vultures claws. Luckily - or unluckily in my case- I didn't have to make the decision.

"Welcome to my humble abode and safe haven stranger!" The Scottish girl greeted him, patting the spot next to her with her foot, "Pay no heed to the Sphinx." She added to him, gesturing in my direction, "Her bark is worse then her bite."

"We've just met." I reminded her, settling back into my spot, legs stretched ahead of me, back against the window, and facing the wall. Well, now that the yelling had stopped (I would quite possible be correct in assuming that it was the guy that was the reason for that) I was mostly facing my book. Briefly glancing down at my watch to confirm that the train would be leaving soon, I became aware of a set of eyes on me.

Looking up, I met the curious gaze of the guy. His head was tilted sideways while he stared. His dark blonde hair was rather ruffled from the fiasco that occurred in the hallway, but his dark eyes gave aware none of his feeling on this. Instead they studied my every move.

Slightly extremely unnerved, I gave him a tight smile before turning my attention back to the book on my lap, intending on finishing it before the train arrived at Hogwarts. However, it seemed blondey had different intentions, as he cleared his throat attempting to get my attention.

"Need a cough drop?" I asked flatly, not even bothering to lift my gaze from the book.

"I- I uh... just wanted to... " He paused to nervously swallow, "Er.. thanks for letting me in."

Rolling my eyes, I pinned him with a ' _did-you-seriously-just-interrupt-my-reading-for-_ this _?_ ' glare, not letting his own piercing eyes waver me, "Thank the red head." I told him, indicating my head in said persons direction, "I was debating whether or not to through you back out." Shrugging nonchalantly I flipped another page, "Still am actually."

They both recoiled slightly, obviously neither of them expecting that kind of response. "Oh." The red head said, "Uh..." She looked around the train compartment awkwardly, both of them unsure of what to do. To their luck, before the awkwardness became too out of hand, a storm of squeals and girlish yelling erupted from outside the cabin.

"Oh you have _got_ to be kidding me!" I snarled, slamming the book shut for the second time that day. Swinging my legs off the seat, I stalked towards the door. _Again_.

"Don't kill anyone?" the redhead said, ending it as more of a question then a request.

I gave a dark chuckle, "No promises." I muttered.

There where a bunch of female bodies in the hallway, several of them where squeezing against the door as to get a closer look of.. whatever was causing the choir of strangled cats. Grabbing the glass door handle, I wrestled with it to get the door open. Despite my tall stature, I wasn't all that strong to begin with, and the added weight on the door due to bodies pressing against it really _really_ wasn't helping.

 _There!_ The door budged open. And as I opened my mouth to yell, I was assaulted by the overwhelming smell of perfume. Against my own will, my body hunched over and let out a few strangled coughs. While my head and sight was angled at the ground, someone came barrelling in, promptly knocking me off of my feet and onto the cold ground. There was a sliding sound followed by the compartment door being slammed shut. " _Colloportus"_ The red head muttered, and there was a corresponding _click_ sound, followed by a series of bangs from the other side of the door. Looking up I noticed that the horde of girls had turned their attention toward the compartment, and the otherwise clear view of the hallway was muddled up by a bunch of faces pressed against it. Like... tourists ogling a rare species at one of them muggle zoo's.

"So sorry." a new voice spoke, "I wasn't quite aware that _that_ may have happened."

Straightening myself, and brushing imaginary dirt off of my muggle clothes, I was faced with yet another person in my compartment. The new newcomer was also male. Discovering that he was quite a bit taller then me, I scoffed loudly before plopping down in my seat, glaring at the few remaining females in the door-window. I was even more displeased when he sat where my legs where going to go.  
Now that I didn't have to embarrass myself by looking up at him, I studied the newcomer from over the top of my book. Dark hair styled into a 'smooth' fringe, a cocky smirk that seemed to be branded onto his face, and light brown that had... some sort of unsettling twinkle in them. Also he was built like an ox. Which was just typical.

"Er... hi." Blondey greeted, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

Red Scott decided to save him of extreme embarrassment and pipped up. "Welcome to my humble abode and safe haven stranger!" she greeted again. "Pay no attention to the Sphinx, her-"

"Are you a robot?" I snapped at her, "because if you insist on greeting _.person_ who walks in here the exact same way... I _will_ activate your off switch."

"What is you can't find one?" The newbie asked, his light brown eyes sparked with amusement.

Meeting them with a cold stare I responded flatly, "Then I'll make one." The brunette recoiled ever so slightly, and scooted a closer to the wall opposite of me. The two on the other seat gave him a glance, silently telling him that he better get used to it.

"So..." The blonde cleared his throat again, his black gaze settled on me again, "What _are_ you reading?"

Momentarily caught off guard, my eyes flew wide open, before they quickly formed a glare. Truth be told, I had expected (and hoped) for them to ignore me. "None of your business." I shot back, before tracing a picture of a merperson lightly with my finger.

"I think for the sake of out existence we should let her read." Red Scott pipped in, and I mentally applauded her, "Besides, seeing as you two may be stuck here for a while... I never caught your names."

Blondey shifted slightly in his seat, angling his body so he could extend his hand towards Red Scott comfortably, "Ives Ashford, Manchester, England... err... third year?" Sensing he was probably going to babble, Red Scott quickly shook his hand.

"Charles Owen." The brunette added in quickly, probably also sensing that 'Ives' was going to babble, "Cardiff, Wales. Also Third year." He flashed what was probably a comforting smirk in Ives direction, but it only seemed to unsettle him more.

"Heather Emery." Red Scott added, doing a criss cross with her arm to shake both of their hands, "From Glasgow, Scotland. Also in the beloved third grade."

"What, really?" Brunet- er... Charles gasped, "All three-"

Thinking ' _oh what the hell_ ' I cut him off. "Four." I stated, "Tori Wright. Ireland."

"' _Tori_ '?" Heather said, "Isn't that short for- Er.. never mind." She wisely decided not to continue her sentence upon seeing my glare.  
Decided to finish my personal challenge, I opened the book wider, and sunk into the information, decided not to pay attention to the people surrounding me. Soon after the train had started. There where a few more conversations, mostly with Ives stuttering his way through a sentence, Heather coming to his rescue with a hyped helping sentence, while Charles just sat there with an arrogant smirk that I had come to assume _was_ branded on his face. Occasionally I butted in with a snide comment just to remind them that I was still in the compartment.

Then by the time the Trolley Lady came around, the crowd in my cabin started to dissipate. Charles - upon seeing that his fan girls where long gone - decided to go see if he could find his friends, but not before mentioning that we weren't 'half bad' . Which, coming from him, was probably a comment?

Ives left shortly after that. He actually managed to string together a coherent sentence that was kind of funny. ('Thank you for not kicking me out Tori.') Which left a small smirk on my face, which I hid from the Red Scott.

Heather herself stayed around for quite a bit afterwards. Despite her being an extremely chatty lass, she said that she just wanted a few more quite moments. Which where promptly broken about 10 minutes later when a group of her squealer friends came walking down the hall.

"That's my cue!" She pipped up, gathering all of her candy wrappings and shoving them into her pocket. Her friends looked in, all of them making 'hurry up' gestures with their hands.

Realising that I was probably supposed to say something, I handed her a wrapper that had managed its way under my seat, "It wasn't completely terrible meeting you." I admitted,then quickly adding, "Although if you ever attempt to sit with me again, I _will_ shove you head first out of the astronomy tower."

"Miss ya too Tori." She chuckled, then opened the door and fell right into the clutches of her friends who carted her away.  
Looking around the now-empty compartment, I was struck with an uncharacterised pain of lonesomeness. I had never really been one to enjoyed social interaction... but I supposed after a severe withdrawal of something you dislike, something out of ones comfort zone wasn't an entirely healthy thing.

Realising, that despite all of the needless distractions, I had also managed to finish my book, I decided that it was quite possibly time to don the robes again.

"Guess third time isn't always the charm." I muttered, staring at the approaching castle in the distance, subconsciously fidgeting my Green and Silver tie.

* * *

 **7.8 Pages, 2521 Words**

 **Next Chapter: The Sorting of Harry Potter & The Discovery of Houses.**

 **Interesting Character Fact:**  
 **Heather likes to listen to Moonlight Sonata when (well, _if_ in her case) she studies.**

 _ **ALL questions and comments are appreciated - as long as they are appropriate.**_


	2. Chapter Two, The Sorting of Harry Potter

The Second Chapter:  
AKA: Apparently I have friends in another house.

My first thoughts upon realising just whom I had 'hung out' with on the train where not ones that would be suitable for a child to hear. So we'll just go the more family friendly route and say that they where something along the lines of "Merlin's Beard".

Even at this point in my life - even before everything that was going to happen - I was always that person who would pick up the smallest of details which would probably help save the world later on. More on that later. Mostly because what I discovered wasn't a 'small detail' it was... well it was more of a Dragon-sized punch to the face detail.

What, you may ask, had brought on this speculation?

Glad you asked.

You see, when I departed from the train (which I still think is an idiotic means of transport) to go onto the the 'mysteriously' drawn carriage, I couldn't help but notice a certain Red Scott. And upon seeing this, I also couldn't help but notice that her school robes had a distinctive Yellow and Black design to it. Yup. Apparently I had been socialising with a Hufflepuff. My non-existent reputation was ruined.  
Noticing that someone was looking at her, Heather turned around. Upon seeing me, her face split up into a wide smile, and as she opened her mouth to call me over, her eyes noticed the green ties. Her smile faltered, and she instead decided to give me a small wave before climbing into that carriage with her friends.

"T-Tori?" a familiar unfamiliar stutter was hear from behind me, and I turned around and saw the dirty blonde from the compartment. Who was wearing a blue tie. Which was good. Less ego-killing.

"Ives." I greeted. Giving the stink eye to his friend who was looking at me like I was the devil re-incarnated. "Never would have pegged you for a bird brain."

"I'm surprised that I'm surprised you're a snake." He responded back quickly. Once he realised what he said, his eyes flew open, and a mixture of fear and shock was plastered onto his face.

However, instead of doing... whatever he though I was going to, I threw my head back and let out a loud laugh. "Not bad Ives." I chuckled, giving him a small pat on the shoulder, "Not bad."

His raven haired friend cleared his throat to get out attention, "So - uh- do you want to... uh..." he looked around nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. Oh god. There where two of them, "Ya'know. Share a carriage..?" While he may have sounded inviting, he looked terrified of the thought.

"No." I bluntly replied, giving Ives friend a blank stare before turning on my heel and walking away, pulling the robes' hood over my head.

"She's a might scary." the raven haired friend whispered to Ives.

"You don't even know the half of it." He responded.

My reputation was _so_ ruined. Not that is was the impressive in the first place. But as a Slytherin, one expects certain things from a fellow student. Such as being a huge arse. Not associating with any muggleborns... or other houses. Although, to be fair, that was an unspoken rule amongst all of the houses; no not associate yourself with the others. True, maybe one or two from a house that you are on semi-friendly terms with. Like Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Kind of. They're probably the only house whom we get along most with, and that is _really_ not saying much. So being seen with Ives probably wasn't that big of a deal.

However a Hufflepuff... despite them being the 'adorable little protectors' as my dorm-mate Ruby so aptly described them, they where somewhat a joke within the green ranks.

Now, having _both_ of those houses seen socializing with me... is anyone ever found out, I would be as good as dead. No seriously, the other _Slytherins_ would kill me. And that's slightly intimidating. Just add a muggleborn and a Gryffindor into the mix and I was done for-  
I was cut off from my thoughts when a large arm was planted across my shoulders. "Help me." a distinctive male welsh voice hissed into my ear as I was dragged underneath nearby carriage. A few seconds later a herd of feminine shoes stormed pass, chasing some unknown target.

"I don't care if you have a hoard of angry Cornish Pixies after you _Owen_." I spat, upon seeing the annoying smirk on my perpetrators face, "If you _ever_ even _think_ about touching me-"

"Wait, Tori?" Even in the dark shadow cast by the overhead carriage I could see his darned eyes fly open in shock, "Tori _Wright_?"  
Is a hiss of annoyance a proper response? No? Too bad, I did it anyway.

"You're in Slytherin!" Charles Owen exclaimed, his voice slightly cracking out of shock.

"Excellent observation Mr. Owen." I snapped, glaring at his Red and Gold tie ' _I'm ruined_ ', "What possibly gave it away? Was it the tie? Or the fact that it says 'Slytherin'?"

"Well- I- Uh.." He gave a slight stutter, before loudly professing his pain as I shoved him out from underneath.

"The girls are long gone." I informed him, much like a teacher would a child, "And I do not wish to be on the back end of the idiotic rumours you and your fellow brainless yakies tell just so your simple minds can be entertained."

He swept his fringe out of his eyes while rubbing at a sore kneecap. "Right. Slytherin. Should have guessed." He muttered under his breath

"And in true _Gryffindor_ style..." I leaned forward to hiss in his ear, "You're second to the punch." Before promptly crawling out from under the carriage with as much grace I could muster, and stepping over his form which was sprawled on the stone ground.

Wind billowing in my robes, I stalked towards an empty carriage, giving whoever got in my way a major stink eye. Stepping into the wooden cabin, I threw my hood back and made eye contact with Charles. Raising a single eyebrow, I took out my wand and tapped the carriage twice, causing it to start a steady pace towards the castle. Other then a small mocking wave at Heather, my gaze did not leave his until he was out of my eyesight.

Sinking back into the seat, I stared at the oncoming Hogwarts castle. Even for me, it was impossible to imagine a worse start to the year.

And I'll give you one hint about what happened next:

It got worse. _Way_ worse.

* * *

The first thing that happened when I walked into the castles accursed halls was that I was attacked by my Slytherin dorm-mates, Janet Hardy, Alison Greymill, and Ruby Blanche. Truth be told, I was more the 'extra' friend to them, the three of them preferring to just be a trio. They generally leave me alone, but sometimes it seemed like they just wanted to get a rise out of me. Which was irritating- much like the girls themselves.

"Oh my gosh, have you heard the news?" Alison, the superfluous one of the group asked, jumping up from behind and clasping both hands onto my shoulders.

"I've been in the school for all of two minutes." I flatly reminded her, dipping a bit to get her claw-like hands off of me, "And I doubt that would be enough time for you and your guy... friend to start snogging-"

Janet, the dark-skinned beau of the group let out a laugh, "For _once_ its not about Ali-cat." _Alicat_? Flipping her dark hair behind one shoulder, she too clasped my shoulder and started leading me to the great hall. At this point I was certain that they only kept me around because I always found the best gossip. That, and they quite possibly viewed me as a dress up doll.

"Yeah!" Ruby - a Chinese cockney sass master, also the only one in the group who I found remotely tolerable- agreed is a comedic over-the-top surprised tone, "No, but you'll _never_ guess what we saw on the train."

Oh no. They saw. They _know_. "Heh... W-what did you see?" I laughed nervously, rubbing my left wrist - a nervous tick that developed at a child. "Because I'm certain there is an perfect explanation for it-"

"Harry Potter!" Janet exclaimed, unable to contain the news any longer, "He's here!"

"Harry... Potter. " I repeated, "The boy who lived? Kid who defeated the dark lord? _That's_ what you needed to disturb me about?" Despite the idiocy however, I couldn't help but let out an inner sigh of relief. My secret was safe. For now.

"Yes, so Janet and Ali should _go_ tell everyone." Ruby stated, giving the two a look that said ' _Go away!_ ' thankfully they got the hint and left. Once they did, she spun on her heel and looked up at me, her eyes narrowed in a glare, "What the hell Tori."

Not quite sure what she was scolding me about this time, I gave her a blank look, secretly hoping for the best.

"For once in your life, . ." With each word she poked me in the shoulder. Hard. Then, upon seeing my confused (and terrifyed) look, she let out a sigh, " _Please_ tell me you got a boyfriend. Even if it _is_ a bloody Griffindor."

"What?"

Rolling her blue eyes, she pulled me into the Great Hall which was slowly filling up with students, "Some Griffindor bloke dragged you under a carriage not much more then an hour ago." Pushing me into a seat sternly, she bent over so she could look me evenly in the eyes, "Why. When. And How. Tell me now."

"Wait- no." I stopped her onslaught of questions, "You think I'm in a relationship."

"Well you're 13-"

" _Exactly_." I hissed, "Which means that I have more important things to do with my time then chase after dim witted blokes - especially ones named Charles Owen." I spat.

"So... no boyfriend." Ruby clarified, her steely eyes not leaving my cold green ones.

Raising my hand, I did a mocking cross over my heart, "No." Then I made a 'go away' gesture much like she did with the other two girls, "Not go find your little scarecrow posse and play house."

Letting out a groan, she dragged herself off of the bench. "Fine." She agreed, only to poke a finger in my face sternly, "But no boyfriends without telling me first." She repeated, before turning away to find brainless 1&2.

"I'm _Thirteen_!" I shouted after her. But other then a dismissive wave of the hand, she gave no acknowledgement that she heard me. Letting out an annoyed sigh - this evening was so not going as planned - I bowed my head until my forehead met the table.

"Trouble in slimy scaly paradise?" A distinctive Scottish voice asked in a teasing tone. Raising my head a fraction, I made out the form of a certain Red Scott and let out another groan.

"Thought we where pretending each other didn't exist." I stated, ignoring her question, "So, Please, don't stop now."

"I'll admit... I was a bit taken aback upon discovering your robes of choice." Heather slung an arm over my shoulder, "But, I overcame that taken abackedness, and decided that you and I, my dearest Tori..." She whispered in an ear, "We could be a great team. Maybe even friends."

"Why do we need to be a team?" I asked, wondering if there may have been something in this conversation that I might have missed.

"Well... you see... " Her drawl Scottish became even more exaggerated, "Someone within our good ol' yellow ranks has a smidgen of dirt on me that I'd rather _not_ the whole world know."

"My condolences." I muttered into the hard oak.

"So I was thinkin' that you and I could perhaps do a little diggin', see what dirt we can find on said person." She then shrugged, shaking me slightly as she did, "And I thought that it was perhaps a chance to spend a little bonding time with you."

"What's in it for me." While the idea may sound appalling, the award could perhaps-

"The satisfaction of helpin' out a fellow student." She suggested, "Oh, and ruinin' someone else's lives."

That... actually sounded extremely tempting. "And why come to me?" I asked, lifting my head off the table to look into her dark green eyes, "We both know I'm not the type of person that people come to for help."

"Four different people from four different houses ended up in the same train carriage." She reminded me, "Don't insult my intelligence by neglecting yours, you noticed too."

"Whoop de whoop." I muttered sarcastically, "What has that got to do with anything."

Noticing that a fresh wave of students where coming in, Heather got off of the seat, "Don't you believe in destiny?" She whispered, coming her fingers through her red quiff.

Giving her a sharp glance, I quickly looked around to make sure no one was watching, "Tomorrow, After dinner by the great lake." I told her, before offering her a teasing smirk, "If destiny permits."

Letting out a small laugh, she echoed the words as a farewell before darting towards the Hufflepuff table. While we may be... _Allies?_ the rift between the houses was still strong. Still, what harm could it do? A bit of honest blackmailing between two young ladies. I haven't had the promise of something this fun since- er... never mind.

By the time the exchange was over and I had collected my thoughts, the Great Hall was noticeably fuller. There was always generally a half hour gap between getting off the carriages and into the Great Hall that happened every year. It was mostly just people greeting each other and wasting time. Mostly so they could keep their mind off of their hunger. No, seriously, it takes forever to get to the sorting, and the sorting itself goes on for _eon's_. By the time the food arrives, everyone's already lost several pounds.

My gaze focusing lazily at the entrance, I noticed that the troublesome trio had returned, all three of them in heavy conversation. Or gossip. Seeing as that was their only way to communicate. Thankfully, they where too busy with their 'chosen one' shmuk that they didn't notice me, and instead sat in the middle of a huge group of other Slytherins.

Now, I wouldn't say that I didn't get along with the rest of my house. I 'respected' a few of them. But mostly, I felt that they where just spoiled kids who where terrible at acting and trying to fit into a Oscar-challenging role. It seemed like everyone was trying so hard to be the 'perfect Slytherin'. Cold, distant, popular, cunning, and a complete arse. Honestly, it just seemed like a giant pissing contest that happened all year, every year. So, I just tried to stay out of all the drama. And (annoyingly ironically) I ended up rooming with the biggest bunch of drama queens I ever did meet.

Precisely one hour and twenty nine minutes after I had gotten off the train, the grand doors of the Great Hall swung open. In walked the deputy Headmistress and head of Gryffindor house, Professor McGonagall. Following her, like a chick to a hen, where the itsy bitsy first years in their plain black robes. Every single one of them looking nervous. Although I am pretty sure the reasons behinds the nervousness immensely varied between one student and the next. They walked in a staggered line down the centre of the Great Hall to an old battered hat on a stool. Several of them talking in hushed whispers to each other, while others stared around them with awe.  
They came to a halt at the stairs of the head table, and McGonagall turned around to face the student mass. The hat's ripped brimmed open, and out came the usual unusual generally always different song.

" _ **Oh you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me**_ _._ "

 _T'was the year 1989, September the First. The weather was dreary_ , _and my current company even drearier._

 _"She's so adorable!" One fifth year student squealed, reaching in_ _to squeeze my cheeks. Her hand faltered in mid air when 11 year old me gave her a still in progress, yet effective, glare. However, her slight hesitation was not enough to stop the other students from crowding me as well._

 _"What's your name little cutie?" another asked, leaning over to look me in the eye. Even at that age I despised taller people. Which, as a 5'1 meant that I despised pretty much everyone. Not's much changed then._

 _"Hardly matters." I grumbled, my voice embarrassingly high toned, and I turned my gaze toward the window, praying that the train ride may be over soon. It was a mistake sitting here. That much I was certain about. What I was also certain about was that I was extremely close to killing everyone in the compartment._

 _"How is she cute?" One of the males asked, earning him slaps and disappointing hisses from the others. "She looks more like a Niffler." Upon his remark, the cabin burst out in muffled giggles which was a nice change of pace. Nasty remarks I could handle. Mostly because it meant I could rebuff with less of a tragic repercussion._

 _"Your logic is flawed." I stated flatly, turning my gaze away from the London scenery to look up into the males light brown eyes. There was a mocking 'Ooooo' from the others, but my attention was otherwise preoccupied, "As they are generally scaly and darker skinned creatures due to their time burrowing in the dirt, it is impossible to associate that with my Irish toned skin which is for the most part, unblemished. Not that I could say the same for you." He fidgeted slightly under my unblinking stare, but I didn't back off, "And due to the amount of toy and plushie sales of that certain model, I believe society has proven you wrong - again - by believing that they are considered cute."_

 _His friends at that point has stopped their mocking of my tone and words, and where instead staring at me in a new light. "If you presume to insult my intelligence for the understanding of wizardring creatures due to my age, then at least have the decency to do it with something you actually know about. However narrow that field may be."_

 _Unsuspecting of a trap, he- like any other mindless fish in the sea- bit the bait. "Understanding or no, it still doesn't diffuse from the fact that you are... not cute."_

 _"Why?" I questioned, "Because your flawed perception precipices me so?" I let out a small chilling laugh, only slightly noticing that his friends where viewing this conversation like the next new high sensational muggle soap opera, "Think of me whatever you will." I jutted my chin out stubbornly, "I have more important things to do then worry about whether or not I live up to your standards." He wisely decided not to respond._

" _ **There's nothing hidden in your head  
The sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be**_."

 _All around me, people my age where looking at everything with a mixture of shock and awe. And I must admit, for once in my 11-year life I was among them. The Hall was gigantic. Huge. Both physically and mentally. The floating candles where magnificent. Was there a certain spell that stopped them from dripping wax on the students? Probably._

 _Four tables (Well five, including the Head one) where spread across the hall, each of them belonging to a certain house. And along the middle of the Hall, leading up to the front, sat a Hat on a Stool._

 _"Write, Victoria." The tall strict looking lady (With wicked robes) called. Grimacing at the use of my name, I slowly walked up to the stool. The crowd of First Years had considerably thinned at that point, all of them going to their respected houses, and as I was one of the last on the list, only a few remained._

 _Slowly setting myself on the stool, I found out that it was unpleasantly slippery. Small but rough hands clenched at the edges of the seat as so I don't slip off and make a fool of myself in front of everyone. Then, much to my displeasure, a barrier of darkness blocked out my view of all the people in the hall, but it didn't block out the feeling of hundreds of eyes on me._

 _'Ah Tori...' a voice muttered from within my head - or was it from within the hat? 'Such... repressed emotion...'_

 _"Listen here leather brain," I inwardly hissed, "I did not agree to this mental scan and invasion of private thoughts. So lets just play ignorance. You tell me where the hell to go, and never_ ever _mention anything you see in here to anyone."_

 _'Tori play ignorance?' It snorted, 'Now there's something I'd never thought I'd hear.'_

'Do you believe that you're destined for great things?' It asked, then after a few seconds pause let out a disappointed sigh, 'No. You don't. You believe the only thing you'll ever do is take a B-Rated job and rake together enough money to take care of you and your deadbeat drunk Uncle.'

"Stop it." I growled, slightly aware that I said that out loud - but not loud enough so the people could hear me.

'No future dreams. Those where all crushed, weren't they?' He taunted, 'And such a waste. Especially considering how great you parents were.'

"Don't you have something else to be doing?" I reminded the hat, "Like, say, sorting me into a house?"

'I already know where you belong. I knew the second I landed on your head.'

Urg. ' _But curiosity is such a fickle thing. Isn't it, little Holmes?' I clenched my... mind mouth? shut, not giving it the satisfaction of a rise. I had only been up here for a few seconds, and I didn't want the school to remember me as the First Year who lost her temper. To a Hat. 'Huh. Pitty.' It muttered._

 _"SLYTHERIN!' It shouted out loud, startling me slightly._

 _"Thanks." I muttered to it sarcastically._

 _'Don't thank me yet.' The hat told me ominously, before it was (finally) removed from my head. And as I walked to the clapping table with the Green and Silver badged robes, I could still hear the sly dry voice in my mind whispering, 'You have no idea how much fun you are going to have, do you Victoria?'._

" _ **So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!**_"

"I hate that hat." I muttered, glaring at the... _thing_ upon the stool as it sang its final notes. Almost as if it heard me, it gave a mocking bow in my direction. I resisted the urge to make a particular rude gesture back.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long role of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah"

A pink-faces girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause-

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

My eyes followed the blonde to her table and caught a glimpse of a short red-head girl cheering loudly, before parting the crowd with her small stature (which looked extremely comical from an outsiders point of view) to shake the newbies hand.

For the next few minutes all sorts of names where called out. 'Boot, Terry' was the first Ravenclaw, and I managed to catch a glimpse of Ives who looked less then impressed with the new delivery to his house. 'Brown, Lavender' was the first Gryffindor. I didn't even bother trying to find Charles in the crowd, my eyes instead went to fellow Slytherin Janet's, whom I rolled my eyes at, motioning to the Red and Gold table.

'Bulstrode, Millicent' was the first Slytherin. She had a rather pudgy face with scowling features and a chunky body. As she stalked toward the table, I couldn't help but give her a flat glare. So much for not having the stereotype pissing contest this year. Scrunching up my nose, I met eyes Red Scott giving her the airborne message of 'Help me' or 'shoot me'... I'm never quite sure which was which. However, instead of doing either of those things, she instead gave a mocking clap. Ives wasn't that much help either. When he saw my displeased look, a huge smile broke out upon his face and refused to go away - no matter how much I glared at him.

Several other names where called... and by several I mean a lot. About five minutes into the ceremony I had stopped pretending I cared, and instead sat glumly on the bench, inwardly sulking while trying to keep my rumbling stomach at bay. I barely even looked up when 'Malfoy, Draco' was sorted into Slytherin. Seemed like a pompous pratt anyway.

Then there where some twins - whom got sorted into different houses, a pug faced resting bitchface girl whom became a Slytherin. A 'Perks, Sally-Anne' genuinely sweet looking girls... who got sorted into Slytherin. That was a bit of a shocker, but nothing compared to what came next.

"Potter, Harry." McGonagall called.

Wait, _What_? My head whipped to Alison who seemed to be looking around the table with a 'told you so' look. Truth be told, I had just expected her to have made something up so she could be the centre of attention. What? Its not like she hasn't done it before.

An extremely nervous looking scrawny kid, with tuffs of black hair sticking out in random direction stepped out of the line. Truth be told, I had expected someone... bigger. Especially since they killed the dark lord and all. Whispers broke out amongst the hall, many of which where just saying " _The_ Harry Potter?". Poor kid looked terrified. Good.

Like all the other small children, the hat went completely over his eyes, blinding him to the many curious onlookers. He sat there for about a minute, the entire room watched with baited breath. Having _Harry Potter_ in any of our houses would mean basically an automatic win at _everything_ , and a terrific story to tell your children - if you ever have any. And from the tenseness of his body, it would be safe to assume he was having an argument with the hat about which house he should be sorted into. I found myself hoping that he wins, unless the house he was fighting for was-

"Better be... GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat called, and the table burst into cheers. Everyone stood up, clapping wildly, racing forward to greet the proclaimed boy who lived.

"We've got Potter!" The infamous Weasley twins chanted, and I sunk further into the bench.

After the loathsome cheering had died down, and Dumbledor was making his speech about staying off the third floor corridor, I made the mistake of examining the Gryffindor table. Mostly because as I was doing so, I accidentally met the gaze of a floppy haired light brown eyed idiot. Meeting my eyes from across the room, his already plastered smirk widened to become even more arrogant (Not quite sure how that was possible), and he raised his punch-filled gobbet in a mocking salute. The silent words " _Beat Ya_." floated through the air towards me. And this time, I _did_ do the rude gesture.

"Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

 _How fitting_.

* * *

 **14.2 Pages, 4678 words**

Next Chapter: Something a Lot Shorter (Probably not), Class(es) & Schemes

 _(Nitwit Blubber Oddment Tweak- To change something for the better)_

 **I got a bit carried away while writing this. It was originally going** **to be a lot shorter, but then I got the the Sorting Hat part and I couldn't resist. Also, I feel some very good character development going on with Tori (Sassy Tori is just my favourite).** **Not** **quite sure about her interactions with Ives, but Heather is defiantly fun to write.  
And so the story will continue. It may seem harmless now, but something wicked this way comes.**

 **Interesting Character Fact:  
Irish Drinking/Pub songs are a guilty pleasure of Tori's**

 ** _ALL Questions, Comments, Schemes, Conspiracies, Queries, and Suggestions are appreciated ~ as long as they are appropriate._**


	3. Chapter Three, A Lesson to Remember

**Apparently the correct tittle was 'Sonata no. 14 Quasi una Fantasia'. So I apologize.**

* * *

The Third Chapter  
AKA: The 'totally safe' class that has 'never had any casualties'  
 _A_ AKA: I'm pretty sure half of my teachers are Psychopaths

The following day came bright an early. For some people, it was _too_ early. For me? Well I was an early bird. Which was probably why I woke up so early. 5:30 am to be exact. For most people, that would be mental. And.. yeah it was. However, ever since I was five, it was near essential for me to see the rising and setting of the sun. During my days off and the summer time, I generally just view it from a window and then crash back into bed.

Also, it was just an excuse to leave my dorm room early.

Seeing as the Slytherin common rooms is in the dungeons it was always rather chilly. And the way the Dorm rooms are positioned, the higher the grade, the colder the room, and the lower the dorm. While it may seem unfair, it was mostly built under the pretence that the older the students get, the better they will at perfecting a nice warm flame to keep the rooms warm. While it may seem flawless, they forgot to take into account that some of the students where... _well,_ different.

For example, in our Dorm, its made up of four females. The superfluous trio, and me. Or, for a more specific headcount, there was Alison, who's simplest of spells backfire (sometimes literally) in the most... destructive way. She can't even do a simple charm without jinxing half of the school. The mere idea of her lighting a fire with her wand was enough to give folk nightmares.

And then there is Janet. She's not that stupid, but not that bright. The dark-skinned viperous beau has probably studied every spell there is and knows it like the back of her hand. Only, her problem is she lacks the patience to create long lasting spells. So while her result of a flame may not be as disastrous as Ali, it would be gone the second it appeared.

Ruby however, is an entirely different story. She's a perfectionist. She refuses to preform a spell in front of others that she hasn't gotten completely memorized and perfected in every single way. And fire was well near the bottom of the list. Typical.

Then there was the obvious choice. Me. I had a way with simple charms, hexes, and jinxes, and despite my efforts, managed to get through transfiguration. So, why was it that I wasn't the one to cast the spell? After all, I _am_ smart. The answer was a simple one. Fire - _magic_ fire at that- terrified me. True, it was beautiful. I often admired its yellow and orange tongs of flames. But the thought of conjuring such... awfulness. It terrified me. However, as far as the trio where concerned, my 'magic fire' lets off too much smoke, so it may kill us in our sleep.

If only.

So, because of all our reasons of not being able to do such a silly thing, we all slept in the cold. It wasn't too bad as we often brought enough blankets to warm a polar bear (A muggle beast who's habitat is the frozen biomes of the north) on a stormy night. Yet the crushing weight was uncomfortable. So getting up extremely early was a bit of a blessing. It also meant I didn't have to deal with the morning drama.

Pushing the excess amount of comforters off of me, I was greeted with the usual early morning frost that bit through my thin white nightie. Making a mental note to actually wear proper pajamas next time, I slid out of bed, my pale white feet meeting the freezing cold stone floor. Tiptoeing my way around bed to my trunk, I quietly opened it and slipped on my robes. Then, dipping further into its messy deeps, I managed to salvage a pair of warm grey socks.

Holding my toiletries in one hand, and my super-squeaky shoes in another, I tread as quietly as I could to the ridiculously small bathroom. It honestly seemed to get smaller each year. Everything was squeezed into one small room. A tub & shower, crammed next to a sink with a semi-cracked mirror over it, leaving barely enough room for a toilet. No overhanging cupboard or rack for cloths. Did I die and go to hell?

Taking in my appearance - my hair was ruffled due to my tossing in the bed - I looked at my meek brush and grimaced. It would be a typical first day morning if it broke. And so far, luck was not on my side this year.

However, I somehow managed to get the thin prongs through my hair, and made it look like I was less dead. While I did have some creams in my bag to make myself look less like a vampire, I decided against it. I had a whole year to use that stuff. Plus it generally felt like I was trying to suffocate my skin whenever I wore it.

By the time I was done in the pathetically small room, my watch read '5:50'. Which meant-

"Shit!" I hissed, looking at the sun and moon chart that hung over my bedside table. I was going to be late. Not even bothering trying to be nice to my dorm mates, I quickly threw on my cloak and shoes and ran out of the room, leaving a trail of ' _Squee!_ 's with every step. Using the dark green hair tie on my write, I tried to capture my dark wild locks into something of a ponytail.

Up the stairs I went, each step making me warmer. Whether it was from actual increase in temperature or the fact that I was doing a vigorous activity I did not know. Nor did I want to waste any time wanting to find out. I finally reached the Slytherin common room at 5:53. Yet, instead of slowing down, or catching my breath, I ran faster. Barrelling through the Portrait (who let out an annoyed grunt) I darted through the dungeons like a streak of black, silver, and green.

At 6:03 I arrived in the Great Hall, which was for the most part completely empty. Grabbing a cup of steaming black liquid, I threw together an assembly of toast, bacon, tomato, and lettuce from the closest table (Which I believe was the Ravenclaw one) before exiting the Hall again. By 6:10 I was where I wanted to be.

The Viaduct. A beautiful stone corridor that extends all the way down to the lake. Its suspended by a series of stone pillars that keep if from tumbling down into the crevice below. And it offered a beautiful view of the great lake - especially in the mornings. Swinging my legs through one of the many archways, I made it so I was sitting with my back against one of the many frames, one foot in the safety of the corridor, and the other dangling over a 100-some foot drop.

Taking a bite out of my make-shift breakfast sandwich, my watch gave off a small chirp as the alarm went off. 6:14. In the far off distance, where the sky met the water came the hint of yellow light, signifying that the sun was starting to rise. Which was nice. At least one thing this year had gone to plan.

Last night, after Dumbledore's 'inspiring' speech, I had promptly ignored any activity from the Gryffindor table. Whether it was because I didn't want to look at the pig headed Charles again, or because I was bitter about the fact that they got Harry Potter I did not know. To make matters worse, Ali wouldn't stop saying "I told you so" for the rest of the night. It was like she was a broken record. Even Ruby got tired of it eventually - and she's the most patient person I know. So by the time the feast had rapped up, the tension in the air between the Slytherin Third Year Females was thick. We went to bed with a frosty attitude in an equally frosty room. Which was great. For me. Mostly because it meant that they _wouldn't_ be up talking until 3:00 in the morning about useless stuff.

It was bad enough two out of the three of them voices where high pitched enough to shatter glass, and that they had a very _annoying_ way of saying certain words; but the fact that they didn't talk about anything remotely interesting just baked the cake. I'm (not) sorry, but why the hell do you feel the need to talk about whether or not Brad Janis from Ravenclaw and Patricia Moore of Gryffindor where snogging in the Third Floor corridor? And I'm sorry, but is Joanna Hayes' (Six times award winning weekly witches top witch award) newest dress really that important? Its bad enough she's got a page dedicated to her in the prophet!

Why couldn't people talk about more interesting things? Apparently there's been a discovery of a new type of beast. One of which is Nocturnal, flies, and can possibly be traced back to the Ancient Egyptian time. _That_ is interesting.

"Nothing better then a beautiful morning sun signifying that today will be a glorious day." I gave a small start when I heard a voice from behind me. Thankfully, I had a good enough grip on the railings that I didn't fall, but the sudden movement disturbed my coffee cup, and a few drops of its liquid spill out from its rim. Whipping my head around, I saw that it was none other then the bearded wizard himself.

"A sailor would disagree Professor." I reminded him, taking another bite of my sandwich.

His purple wizard hat shifted slightly when he tilted his head in confusion. A single of his bushy white eyebrows was raised, "And what has that got to do with anything?" He asked, examining me over his thin gold-wired half-moon glasses.

"Have you never heard of the muggles sailors poem?" I asked incredulity. When I got no answer, I took the silence for a no. "Red sky in the morning, sailors warning. Red sky at night, sailors delight." I jutted my chin out in the direction of the sun, "Its a red sky today."

He gave a slight nod, but otherwise said nothing. He showed no signed of leaving, and instead he turned his thoughtful gaze onto the rising sun. Deciding that he was probably too lost in thought, I turned my own attention away from him, and instead to my breakfast.

"Are you happy?" He asked suddenly, re-reminding me of his presence.

"What?" I asked sharply, turning to give his a glare. Only to stop a few seconds later when I remembered that this was _Dumbledore_ \- world renowned badass.

"Are you happy here." He reinstated, turning his eyes to me. "You were such a miserable 11 year old." he let out a sigh as he remembered my past self.

"I thought myself rather joyful." the flatness in my voice gave away no signs of emotion.

"What of your friends?" Dumbledore tried again. While it was nice to know that the Headmaster of the school was actually attempting a conversation with me, I couldn't help but feel that it had a deeper meaning. Or that he was testing me. Maybe even looking for something.

"You're going to have to be more specific." I mumbled through a mouthful of sandwich. "I obviously have many friends." Luckily, the old man wasn't without a little humour, as he gave a slight chuckle at me retort.

"I'll leave you with your thoughts." He decided. Gathering himself up to go - to the Great Hall probably. About ten paces later, he paused and turned around, "Oh, and Tori?" I lifted my head in acknowledgement, "I think you'll find that the view from the astronomy tower balcony is even more wonderful." He tapped his finger to the side of his nose before walking off again.

"He's mad." I muttered out loud once my view on him disappeared. What I didn't say was the fact that I approved of that. Everyone needed a bit of madness in their lives. Mine just happened to be directed at everyone around me and had less to do with actual insanity.

* * *

"They gave me muggle studies!" I hissed upon receiving my schedule.

"What!?" Ruby exclaimed, reaching over and snatching it out of my grasp, "Galloping Gargoyles they did!"

The two of us where off to our first class of the year. Care of Magical Creatures. An elective that I _did_ choose. Unlike that joke of a class that the teachers put me in for some unknown reason. I chose _Divination_! Not that... _urg_!

"You do realize that you're leaving me in a future predicting classroom with the other two then." Ruby reminded me. All four of us had chosen Divination as our second elective last year.

"Oh Ali-cat!" I raised my voice in a higher pitched cockney accent that was mocking Janet, "Does is say whether or not I am to break one of my nails?"

"Rude!" Ruby reminded, hitting me sternly in the arm. Yet her eyes where lit with laughter. However, upon reaching the classroom, the light died. "Oh." She grumbled.

"What is it?" I asked, peaking around the corner. "Oh." I agreed.

What we where looking at wasn't the fact that there where all the houses in the same class, it was rather the fact of whom was teaching the class. As we hadn't seen him at the beginning of the term feast, the two of us had secretly hoped that he had (rightfully) retired. However, there seemed to be a bit of a theme this year - everything goes wrong.

Professor Kettleburn may have once been a handsome man. However, that was quite possibly about 100 years ago. Nowadays he had one arm and half a leg, and his face was scarred up like no tomorrow. Apparently he had mellowed down in the years that past, which makes my slightly wish that I had been there to see him when he wasn't as 'mellow'... and also happy that I wasn't there too.

Keeping one eye on the Professor who was snoozing by the blackboard, Ruby and I took up a spot at the far back corner of the classroom. We had heard the rumors about what his classes where like, and wanted to stay as far away from his desk as possible.

As it was still before class time and the bell had not rung, there weren't many students in the class. However, even then it was easy to tell that this was not going to be an extremely popular one with the students. Reason A,B,and C was snoring at the front of the class. So far everyone else had gotten the same idea as us. A trio of Ravenclaw girls where the closest to the front, and they where the third row back and only the opposite side of the room as to where the 'viewing area' was. The Weasley twins where propped about four rows back making a castle out of cards. There where a few other people scattered here and there, one other Slytherin who's name I had forgotten (nor cared about in the first place), a clutter of Hufflepuff's who sat a few rows ahead of us. A distinctive red quiff was in the group, and she sat the closest to the two of us, giving me a wink as she set her books down.

Then came the extra bad news. After the Hufflepuff's, a pair of Gryffindor Boys walked in. One of them I recognized as Daniel Storms, the muggle born Wizard chess champion, with his honey hair and fit form you wouldn't peg his as a chess devotee - or a good one at that - but he was. Beside him was someone who I did know better, despite having only been introduced to him a day ago. Charles Owen. It was expected that I would be seeing him in my classes, after all, the class number is big, but the overall student number is small. Yet knowing this information, I still couldn't help but feel a hint of dread when I saw him walk in.

"Isn't that your not boyfriend?" Ruby asked me upon seeing who entered the class room.

" _That_ is a slimy pig headed idiot." I hissed back to her, "One of whom we will never talk about." To my great displeasure, the two of them took the row next to ours. Too close for comfort. For all we know, arrogance could be contagious.

The bell then chimed loudly, startling the professor out of his seat.

"Ah!" He shouted delightfully upon seeing us students, "Glad you all could make it! Er... what year is this again?" He asked, his single arm coming up to fix his huge-rimmed glasses that helped hide his scarred face. He seemed to be floating in the air - much like a ghost. Although I couldn't imagine a man like him being stuck in a wheelchair, so it made sense.

"Third Year Professor- er Sir - Er Professor." One of the Ravenclaw's at the front said, looking terrified.

"Ah _a_!" He proclaimed, floating a little higher, "You're all new here, yes?" He stared at her, his huge glasses not diminishing the effect of his prying yellow eyes.

"...yes?" She squeaked, not sure as to what to say.

"All right!" He cheered, zipping towards the table where he picked up a role of parchment.

"Wicked!" The twins muttered to each other. The rest of us looked rather uneasy, a few even seemed like they where considering walking out of the class right then and there.

"So, nominal role." He proclaimed, pointing at the scroll in his hand that had all of our names written on it. However, instead of reading through it like any other teacher would, he instead threw it into a cage with a dog-like creature who had a scaly backside who proceeded to light it on fire. "I am in charge of teaching this class, not making sure whether or not you show up!" He told us, "If you don't want to come, that's damn fine with me. Just don't come complaining when you _FAIL YOUR EXAM_!" He shouted the last few words making all of us jump.

"Now." He sighed, cracking his knuckles against the desk, "Lets get crackin'."

Ruby looked at me worriedly, fearing for her life, and I just shrugged my shoulders, "He can't kill us on the first day." I admitted, pulling my books out of my bag. However my eyes never left the fire-spitting dog.

* * *

The rest of the day went by in a blur. It turns out that I had a potions class with Ives, and DADA with Heather again. I didn't talk to either of them before during or after the lessons. I had more important things to do. However, I couldn't get that arraignment with Heather out of my head. I was ashamed to say I was looking forward to it. For the blackmail part. Obviously.

And whenever I thought of the reason _why_ I was going, the more I thought about Dumbledore's words to me this morning. _"What of your friends?"_ That question struck me harder then I'd thought it would. Like a bug you forget to brush off that ends up chewing its way into your skin. What _of_ my friends?

I wouldn't say I was lonely. Truth be told, I preferred the company of books over humans. You didn't have to put up with their annoying behaviour- for the most part- when you where in their company. As a child I was never really known for getting along with the other children. Most of them just labelled me as 'that weird girl with the drunk uncle' and ignored me. And not much has changed since then.

Yeah, I had Ruby and the other girls. But there was a clear understanding between us that we only stuck together because we where originally forced to, and we ended up just kinda stuck. But, I was happier without friends. Less people to look after, you didn't have to pretend to like a certain thing lest you jeopardize said friendship. The entire 'Emotionally attached' thing required so much fabrication of ones self, and so much hiding of who you truly where.

I wasn't an idiot, I knew I was harsh and unsympathetic to anything that had the word 'human' in it. I always had better things to do with my life other then associate myself with others and put up a false front. My parents used to tell me that people should like me the was I am. Yet no one ever did, so I gave up trying.

' _What of your friends_ '. More like ' _What friends_ '. Yet even as I though it, I couldn't help but feel like that statement was... false.

Rolling my head back against the tree and groaning, I looked out to the great lake, swallowing the last of my dinner. My cloak was spread all around me, and I was sprawled lazily against a tree.

"Curse you." I muttered to the image of Dumbledore in my mind. It _was_ his fault I was thinking this way.

A light snort was heard, "Why is it that whenever I run into you, you're always insulting the air?" Heather asked, walking into my sight and sitting down against another tree across from me.

"Insults are so wasted on the human population." I muttered good heartily, shifting my position slightly so it was easier to maintain eye contact with the Scottish gal. "Nature actually listens to you the majority of the time."  
"But it doesn't do anything." Heather pointed out smoothing her black skirt around her so she wasn't showing any unnecessary skin, "What's the point of talking to something if nothing happens?"

Shrugging my shoulders, I put on an exaggerated confused look "Why don't you ask the people who go to a therapist?" I joked.

"Speaking of therapists..." Heather leaned over, "Ready to get to work?"

Making sure to maintain eye contact, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a notebook and quill, "Maybe." I smirked. Flipping through the notebook, I got to an empty page about halfway through. Smoothing out the yellowed paper, I readied my quill. "Full steam ahead Red Scott." I told her.

"Who?"

Confused by her question, I looked at her quizzically. Instead of her explaining, she just stared at me. Neither of us showed signs of speaking. I was mentally going through the conversation. Had I said something wrong or-

"Oh." _oh._ "Uh. Sorry. Its.." Looking around awkwardly, I was only semi aware of my hand rubbing my left wrist. Letting out a awkward cough, I met her semi-amused eyes with a sheepish smile, "Its... I tend to give... people... nicknames is my head. And because you're a red head... and Scottish.." Releasing how _awkward_ that sounded, my face flushed. Now I'm not one to blush. Usually I remain cool demeanour through a conversation no matter how embarrassing it got. But the idea of slipping up... that itself was embarrassing. What I slipped up on was even worse.

However instead of laughing, or leaving immediately to spread this news with the rest school, Heather just said, "Usually when people give me a nickname its 'Little Scottish girl' or something that's a play of 'Heather'"

" _Little Scottish Girl_?" I snorted, "You question me calling you Red Scott when people call you _that?_ If I were you I'd take the new (and cooler) name without question."

"Yes, but you aren't me." She pointed out, "And thank merlin for that. Else I'd just do this thing by myself - and that would be boring." And just like that, we were back to where we were before things got... distracted. "So what do you need to - Wait." Rubbing her lids as if not believing her eyes, she stared intently down at the book in my hand, "Do you... have a _crime book_?"

"I call it my 'schemer'," I smirked, holding it up and flipping through the pages so she could see the sketches and notes from my previous escapades, "It helps keep track of all the people I've blackmailed throughout the years."

"I expected there'd be more..." She commented, not bothering to ask for the book - knowing that it was possible that I would not give it to her.

" _'_ I've got more at home." Flipping back to the original page, I took my quill and scribbled 'Red Scott's Revenge/Blackmail', "Now is the time where you give me information."

While she attempted to looked apathetic, the slight shuffle of her position gave away that fact that she was extremely excited. "So, what information do you need?"

"Lets start with everything and work our way down from there."

Heathers demeanour completely shifted. She went from the go-happy Hufflepuff to a women who had everything taken from her and had nothing less to lose. Which was probably what happened.

"Alexander Clarke" She spat, "Hufflepuff, Fourth Year. The other beater on the Quidditch team."

"You're a beater?" Seeing her glare I decided it was just best for her to continue.

"He and his friends are closer then close. Get to them, you get to him. I don't care what you find about him, as long as its dirty. And you and I can make their life hell. Oh... and..." her green eyes flickered to the ground before meeting mine, "Could you... please not find out what he has on me."

The thought had occurred to me. After all, Heather could just be using me - well she was- but her entire 'let's be friends' thing was hard to but. Especially since it was towards _me._

 _"_ Yes." I told her.

She let out a sigh of relief, a weight was visibly lifted off of her shoulders. "Good. I'll leave the rest for you."

What happened next surprised me. She got up from her spot, and sat down at the same tree I was. I didn't even tell her off I was too stunned.

"It's only the first day and already I want to burn the entire bloody place down." She sighed, looking at the glowing castle in the distance.

I snorted, "Step up your game Red Scott." She gave me an iniquitous look and I felt compelled to continue "I wanted to the second I saw the place."

Heather let out a barking laugh causing me to jolt, "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

I gave her a look, "Because-"

"Rhetorical question Tori." She cut off.

We sat in silence for a few more minutes watching the sun set. It wasn't until the top of the burning sphere had dipped below the horizon that I summoned up the courage to ask the question that's been bugging me since her request.

"Why me?" I winced at how feeble my voice sounded, "You could have chosen any one. Someone nicer. And don't give me that destiny bull." I told her sternly.

"I- I don't know." She admitted, running her hand along her face. "It's just... I have lots of friends as you probably know by now. And... " A surprisingly deep sigh came out of her miniature (but built) body. "I like fixing people. Making them better. Making them... like me I supposed."

I sat there awkwardly not knowing what to do. Do I... touch her in comfort? Generally people don't come to the Artic when they are cold.

She tilted her head so she was able to look at me instead of the school. "That's why I came to you I supposed." Her usually soft gaze burned into my own green eyes. "You're so... not me. For me, you are practically unfixable."

"Thanks." I responded flatly, "I feel so touched."

Her green irises rolled. "We are similar in some ways I don't doubt. And I'm sure if I really _really_ tried..." glancing away, she chewed on her bottom lip, "But... I don't want to. Fix you that is. I don't feel that... urge."

"I'm confused." I admitted, "You want to hang out with me because... you _don't_ want to hang out with me?"

Heather gave me a pointed look, "Who does?"

For the first time in a long time, I threw my head back and let out a hearty laugh

* * *

The two of us sat there for a long time. Neither of us saying a word. Dumbledore's voice had been banished from my head. And whenever it would creep back whispering ' _What of your friends?_ ' I just looked at the short ginger girl who was making shadow puppets beside me and think ' _Why don't you ask her yourself_?'.

To anyone else, we would appear as two friends having a fun quite time. And we where. I supposed. It all depends on you definition of 'friend'. However, to destiny's eyes we where something different. We where a couple of puppets and its fingers where just itching to pull out strings.

* * *

 **14.4 pages 4898 words.**

Next Chapter: Muggle Studies and

 **Tori thinks that this school no longer houses sane teachers. Ives is also going to be a thing. Charles defiantly.**

Four Hearts already? Merlin's beard, thank you! Also, I will be updating every monday. There may sometimes be sunrise updates, but it will definitely be at least once a week.

This chapter was mostly filler, just trying to set the characters up, drop in some lovely character development (Heather has some serious control issues, eh?) Introduced some other characters (KETTLEBURN IS AMAZING HOLY CRAP) Bit of Dumbledor. Next chapter things will really be starting off. After all, its time for a bit of

 ** _action_** **!**  
 **Also it seems like all of my chapters may be over ten pages. Ooops.**

 ** _Interesting Character Fact:  
Charles likes his hot chocolate with a dash of cinnamon._**  
 **The more you know.**

 ** _ALL Questions, Comments, Concerns, Theories, Notes, Queries, and Critiques are welcomed - As long as they are appropriate._** Or a Dobby-Herminone face swap. No one should have to see that.


	4. Chapter Four, The Muggle Master?

AKA: I am going to find this thing called 'Destiny'

 _And punch it in the face._

As much as I would want to say that the rest of the week went by without indecent, I have a thing against lying to to imaginary audience in my head. So. With a heavy cold heart, I must inform that the rest of the week did _not_ go without indecent. It was very much the opposite of that actually.

Tuesday had went by rather smoothly. We had care of magical creatures in the morning, and his scaly dog almost set a boy from Hufflepuff on fire. It was very amusing to watch. Wednesday and Thursday were just as exciting - I accidentally went through my fifth cauldron in potions which Snape wasn't to pleased about. Heather and I didn't have any meet ups after Monday. The two of us decided to wait at least three weeks before we put our plan into effect. However thing got... hectic on Friday. There was one class that I have not been looking forward to. The class that I _did not_ choose. The one that would _ruin_ my reputation. Well, what was left of it.

" _Welcome to muggle studies_!" The professor exclaimed, prancing into class the second the bell rang. Upon hearing those words, I let out a deep groan and banged my head upon the desk.

In a attempt to at least show that I did not want to be there, I had chosen the far back corner of the classroom. Ah yes. The classroom. A large circular room that had rows of desks on different levels that went halfway across the room, lowering each row until it reached the bottom, where the teacher taught with a huge board and a bunch of shelves for merlin knows. Where I was sitting? The darkest corner in the room at the back. Everyone else (Which included Ives, three other Ravenclaws, Charles and two females from his house who ignored him, and Heather with her usual gang. No Slytherins) sat closer to the front. Which I was perfectly fine with. Until the teacher came in.

"Who's sitting at the back there?" He called out after walking in, squinting behind his specs as if that would help to see me better, "Come on down! We don't bite!"

"No but _I_ do." I muttered under my breath quietly, picking up _'Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles'_ by Wilhelm Wigworhty. Everything I had just planned against? Gone up in smoke. Everyone's eyes turned to me, and I felt their gaze move to my robes and tie in sync. Whispers filled the room. There was a Slytherin in their midst.

"What's your name?" The professor (Direbrew I believe his name was) asked me in a condescending tone as I sat down.

Tossing my books onto the desk, I gave him a steely glare, "You have the attendance, you tell me."

Obviously not expecting that answer, he did a double-take. The rest of the class let out a collective gasp except for Heather - who just rolled her eyes, Ives - His face split into a smile and he whispered "I knew she was going to do that" to his horrified raven-haired friend; and Charles. He was to busy trying to chat up a girl from the Ravenclaw house he hardly noticed.

"Y-yes well... um..." He let out a nervous giggle and fiddled with his specs. For a moment he was silent, it looked like he was having an internal argument with himself. Then, suddenly, his gaze turned harsh. "Detention." He suddenly spat out, slamming a pre-made written note on my desk that had both the times and location. Typical. After his little spectacle, he turned to the class as if nothing had happened.

Clearing his throat, he began his introduction speech. "Hello Third Years. For those of you who do not know, I am Professor Direbrew. This term I will be teaching _all_ of you how muggles in the non Wizardring world... work." He flicked his wand, and a stack of parchment paper from his desk started floating towards us and giving each student a sheet as it passes.

"I thought a good way to start my class would be to see how much you have been reading your study material." Direbrew explained, "You have been split up into different groups - you'll see in the top right hand corner who you're with - And you have a fortnight to finish the task your group has been given. "

Not even bothering to see if any of us caught what he had just explained, he flicked his wand again, and a loud chime filled the room. "Start!" He shouted. Turning dramatically so his cape billowed behind behind, he gracefully sat in his seat behind his desk. Immediately getting absorbed into his work.

There was a lull in the students. Everyone looked at each other, no one quite sure what to do. Looking down at my parchment, I spied the top right-hand corner where it said "Group Members". In neat little handwriting it wrote 'Heather Emery'. _Naturally_ I thought sarcastically. Underneath it, in the same print, it read 'Ives Ashford'. _Typical._ Already knowing where this was probably going to end up, I took a deep breath and prepared myself for the last name. 'Charles Owen'.

Fuck. My. Life.

What was that Heather had said? ' _Don't you believe in destiny_?' Well if I hadn't then, then I sure would've had to now.

Scowling at the group list, I made no movement to get up. Rather hoping instead that I would be forgotten and fade away. Right this second preferably. Alas, the almighty powers that continued to torture me could let that happen. Which is probably why a few seconds later there was a large ' _SLAM'_ from beside me. Looking up, I saw the annoyed face of one Charles Owen. Well, at least he was miserable.

"Well, look at this! The Train-Gang is back together!" Heather chirped up, her bright beaming face held only a slight trace of mocking. She slipped past Charles and slid into a seat beside me.

"We... we never where a 'gang'." Ives reminded her quietly, slowly pulling into the other empty seat between me and Charles. His dark brown eyes trailed on the ground.

Red Scott then cleared her throat, looking down at the paper, she began to read the task. "You and your group have to bake a recipe - anything you want - using muggle equipment. We- er I will know if you cheated." Pulling a face, she sunk back in the chair, "Well that doesn't sound ominous or creepy at all."

"Lets just get this over with." Charles grumbled, aggressively flipping open his book. Flipping my own open, I couldn't help but study him. Over the last few days I have been trying to pinpoint just what made him rub my skin the wrong way, and vise versa. He was okay-looking I supposed. Although I wasn't usually one to judge people solely on their looks. After all, raven hair - that was always perfectly styled. Flawless skin which was neigh impossible for the majority of people. A smirk that was always branded on his stupid face no matter what mode he was in- He just reeked of arrogance. And he was. Arrogant. The way he moved, and talked, it was all to self-obsessed. Everything he did was flamboyant. He _wanted_ to be the centre of attention. That usually wasn't a problem (Have you seen the people I hung out with?) but the way he did it... it was almost like he wanted the entire world to think him superior.

I know. I'm reading to much into this. But its what I do. I study someone. Pick a person, and observe them to figure out all of their mannerisms. And he... was hard to pin down. Heck. everyone in the 'Train-Gang' as Heather called it was.

Ives seemed like a shy nerd, but there where small instances where something would snap and he'd become a completely different person. More sarcastic and confident. Then as soon as it comes, it's gone.

Heather is a hyper ball of energy. But at some points she just stops. Like an unpleasant thought came to her mind. And she blanks out with this far away depressed look her her eyes. And other times, when her friends are being particularly rowdy, she just turns away and pinched the bridge of her nose.

And as for the arse. While he is (obviously) an egotistical idiot who lacks any necessary brain cells at times, when he though no one was looking, or if he was incredibly irritated, he rub a pendant that he wore under his uniform. Yeah, not much. But there was obviously a story behind it.

"What is e- elec- elktricty?" Heather asked, flipping through her book, jolting me from my thoughts.

"Muggle studies 101. A-always study b-before the first day." Ives replied.

"Even I knew that. And I didn't even want to join this class." I muttered, prodding my book distastefully.

The red head let out a embarrassed cough, "I... don't study."

"W-what!" Ives exclaimed, "Why not?" He looked like someone has just told him that his puppy died.

"Oh yeah. How dare you." I dead panned, "Because studding is one of the keenest pleasures I know."

Heather snorted upon realising that my sentence was lathered in sarcasm, and in the corner of my eye, I saw Charles try to suppress a smirk behind ' _The Home Life of British Muggles_ '.

Deciding that she had enough of people making fun of her, Red Scott decided to focus everyone's attention.. elsewhere.

"So rumour is it that you destroyed one of Snape's personal cauldrons." She said in an falsely innocent tone looking bashfully of me.

"It was his own fault loaning it to me in the first place." I muttered, "You'd think for a smart guy he'd have learn-"

Charles let out a loud snort, rudely interrupting me from my exposition. "Typical." He spat, "A Slytherin fawning over it's master."

"... _excuse me_?" I asked him coldly, "I do not ' _fawn'_ over _anyone._ Let alone the rude and bullying Professor also known as the head of my house."

"You're talking and all I hear is ' _blah lie blah lie blah'_!" He mimicked using a very poor Irish accent, "You may have fooled these two idiots, but I can see through you-"

I scoffed, turning my seat towards him, causing Ives to scuffle back. "Riddle me this 'Braveheart'... If they're idiots, what does that make you?" I jabbed my thumb in the direction of the two who where now watching this scene with wide eyes.

"They're going to tear each other apart!" Ives whispered to Heather in a worried yet somewhat excited tone.

"I'll get the popcorn." She told the blonde nonchalantly, staring at the scene unfolding in front of her like a dog at a juicy meat.

Needless to say, we where up in each other's throats. "I don't think there is even a word to describe how thick you are." I continued, " ' _Oh, look at me, I have a horde of selfish girls chasing after me, and we all know fans equal brains!_ '. What did you think would happen idiot?"

"I don't sound like that." He protested, and in true _him_ fashion, not even bothering to put up a good contradicting argument. Urg.

"You're right!" I examined in a 'Aha!' tone. "I don't think you are possibly even able to make a sentence that long!"

"Well at least I don't slink around in the dungeon like some... snake." He sneered.

My furious expression was whipped off my face, instead going back to its standard expression of annoyance. The cover expression so people couldn't see what actually hurt.

"Really? A snake?" I said evenly, fury wrapped into every word, "What could have possibly given you that analogy? _Please_ , tell me how you came up with s _uch_ an idea for I _truly_ do not know." Unable to stand my piercing cold green gaze, his own annoyed eyes darted to the ground. "Are you really so gullible to think that all of us Slytherins are nothing but evil manipulative monsters? That we all worship a person upon whom many disagree with? You talk about me fooling people who actually _care_ \- and yet you're the one fooling yourself."

Both of us took a deep breath, ready to rant and yell at each other until our hearts content, until a cool voice cut in. "What in Merlin's beard is going on over here?"

In sync, all four of our heads turned to look at tussled brown haired Professor who had cold fury in his blue eyes.

"N-nothing." Ives nervously pipped up, slightly surprising me with his blatant lying to a teacher.

He smoothly brought his hand up to the glasses and took them off, not sparing us from the intensity in his eyes, "Well your so called ' _Nothing_ ' is disturbing my class." Charles and I exchanged a bewildered look, neither of us thinking that we where being to loud as we where mostly just anger whispering to each other. Actually, it seemed like ' _his class_ ' didn't even notice.

"And you two." He turned his unforgivable eyes on Heather and Ives- whom he attempted to hide behind, even though he was a good four inches taller then her, "You four are in a group, did you not think to interrupt them? Or where you too busy ' _enjoying the show_ '?"

Heather unleashed her secret weapon. I called it the 'Kitten Effect'. She gave this fragile and innocent look that could make even a stone wall go 'Aww, how adorable!'. Professor Direbrew however... was not a stone wall. Not even wavering from her adorableness of an expression, he pulled out three slips of paper - all of which looked similar to the detention one he gave me, so I could only naturally assume it was the same thing- and he swiftly placed them in front of Heather (Who looked indifferent), Ives (Whom stared at it horrified), and Charles (Who then proceeded to give me the biggest glare.)

While the three of them 'admired' their detention slips, Direbrew unleashed his full on glare on me. It was obvious that he blamed me for this ruckus, and he would probably be right in doing so too. But facts are for mulling over. Blaming requires action. So I acted. Slowly raising my light green steely eyes to meet his blue ones, I stubbornly jutted my crooked chin out. He narrowed his eyes, but mine never wavered.

' _Give me_ all _you got_.' I tried to convey with him through my eyes, ' _And I won't back down. I've seen worse_. _You. Don't. Scare. Me_ '

Suddenly he jolted, looking away uncomfortably. He slammed his specs back onto his face, and did another dramatic walk to his desk. Where he either marked papers, or talked to his inner voices. Hopefully the prior.

Turning my gaze away from him, I instead caught the light brown one of a certain arrogant brat who looked extremely peeved.

"I might as well just say it," He hissed through angrily clenched teeth, "I _really_ don't like you."

Deciding it would be best not to start another scene, I instead gave him a mocking smile, "Well, its good to know that we at least agree on something." Not being able to help myself, my crooked lips formed a smirk and a sly comment slipped out of it, "Now if only you would agree that you are the worst person to be in a argument, that could be two things!"

Luckily a huge gong signalling the end of the class rang through the room, bringing an end to whatever angry spewl he might have said. Letting out a huff, he picked up his book and stomped out of the room.

I let out a sigh of relief the second his - _tall_ _ **urg**_ **!** \- body excited from my view. "That was fun." I said sarcastically to the two.

Ives - surprisingly- let out a laugh. "One of the more entertaining ones, I'll give it that." He too shoved his books into his bag, "So where are you two off to next?"

"Divination Tower." I groaned, waving a 'Unfogging the future' textbook in the air, "My idiot friend left this in her dorm this morning, so I have the _privilege_ to return it."

Letting out a snort and a sarcastic 'Good Luck!', I bid the two of them goodbye, exiting the class before the teacher had me participate in another stare-off.

While the Divination tower was on the other side of the school, I was in no rush. It was currently supper time, so all the students would be in the Great Hall. The superfluous trio would still be in the tower, trying to soak up any extra marks that they can. They would probably be in there for about three hours. Which meant that I had to sneak them food out of the kitchen. Again.

Walking alone through the corridors of Hogwarts was perhaps one of the most calming things I know. The sound of your footsteps echoing through huge halls. The murmur of the _'nice'_ paintings as you pass by. And, if you where extremely lucky, you could hear the sound of rain echoing through chiming with your footsteps. It was peaceful.  
And like all peaceful things, it ended too soon.

A huge wooden door stood in the way between me and some-million stairs. Its huge handle seemed to be mocking me. A final test to see if I was truly wanting to commit to that journey. And no. I wasn't. By my... dorm mate was in need, so I had to help them.

Throwing the door open, I was greeted with the sight of stairs, stairs, and oh look! _More_ stairs! Shifting my uniform skirt slightly higher so it was just barley above my knee's, I started the trek up the stairs.

* * *

"So... this is not for any of _our_ futures?" Ali asked the crazed Professor who was sitting in her chair in the incense filled room.

"Someone you know maybe." She repeated for what was probably the thirtieth time that night, "But no. Not yours."

The three girls crowded around the cup, and being especially careful not to break it, studied its contents.

"It's a falcon!" Ruby exclaimed.

Slightly confused at the three's sudden confidence, Trelawney lifted herself up from her chair and glided over to the table. "That is not a falcon." She said softly, "That's..." Her misty eyes widening, she snatched the cup away from the three and held it up to her face. "This is new. Or old." She muttered, rushing over to her stand of advanced Tessomancy symbols books. The trio followed quickly after her, crowding behind so they could see what was going on.

The crazy-haired lady flipped furiously through the book, keeping the hand that held the tea cup steady at all times.

She let out a soft sigh of satisfaction when she found the page she was looking for.

"Pay good attention." She told the girls, "Now... this is in fact a raven." She pointed at thy symbol they originally thought was a falcon. "The king of birds. Generally meaning either 'bird' itself, or great wisdom." There was a slight pause where she studied the other contents of the cup, and the girls scribbled down notes furiously.

"The heart is either lover or friends." She traced through the list in her book, "These are more advanced symbols then I originally planned." She admitted. Suddenly, she gasped, her face going stark white, and the cup falling onto the floor, shattering into little tiny pieces.

"Who is this of?" Trelawney whipped around to face the girls, "Which of your friends is this?" She pointed at the shattered remnants of the cup on the ground.

"We.. don't know Professor." Ruby admitted, her blue eyes looking bashfully at the ground, "We where kinda hoping you would tell up that."

Janet then asked the question they all where dying to say, "Why do you need to know? I thought you said-"

"Because I believe.." She took a shuddering breath, "I believe that whoever that cup's future held is going to die." She sunk into her cushioned chair, rubbing a hand over her eyes. "Lesson over." She dismissed.

Not needing to be told twice, the three girls quickly packed up their bags and ran out of the class.

"No one tell Tori about this." Ruby hissed to the others.

"Not like she'd ever believe us." Janet replied back as the three of them hurried down the long stairs.

Not one of them noticed a certain crooked-jaw third year hiding in the shadow's who heard every word they said.

* * *

Trelawney was going around spooking kids now.

 _That's great_. I thought sarcastically. It was only their first day in that class, and they already managed to be freaked out of their mind. Making a split second decision, I opened the door to give the Divination Professor a piece of my mind.

However, I was only met with darkness.

It wasn't the type of darkness that you could adjust your eyes to. It was magic. A thick cloth of black was weaved through the air, making it impossible to see.

There! In the distance! A small light beckoned me to come closer to it. And in a state of idiocy, I obliged.

A small sphere was sitting on top of a three legged stand, a glowing dark red hummed from within it. My hand acted against my will, and moved towards the ball. And the second it touched the smooth surface, the sphere burst. Red ribbons of smoke danced through the black air, and it would have been beautiful - had it not been for the hissing voice that accompanied it.

" _The secret of death shall arise once again  
And with it memories long past suppressed  
And nightmares brought back, and this time just as true  
The double one created a poison brew  
And the girl with wings in her mind  
Has the burden to choose who will live and who will die._"

" _What_?" I shouted into the air confusedly.

A the sound of my voice, the smoke jumped into action. It gathered above the glowey ball thing, and flew straight at me. Whatever illusions I had of it being regular smoke where completely shattered when the impact of the black and red clouds drove me off my feet and through the door. My back harshly collided with the stone ground, and the heavy oak door was slammed in front of my face.

Deciding that I probably shouldn't try to get back in there to tell Trelawney _and_ the smoke to clear off, I did the only logical thing to do.

Run.

Taking the accursed book with me, I bolted down the stairs, missing several as I went, and almost fell and broke every bone in my body several times. But that did not stop me. I cleared the entire staircase in a matter of _minutes_. And the second my feet touched solid ground, I felt immensely safer.

Looking down at my watch, I discovered that there was still about an hour left of dinner. Yet strangely I wasn't in the appetite for food. May have been the near death experience. Deciding instead to return to the cold dreary common room, I took the corridor in the opposite direction of the Great Hall, and headed towards the dungeons.

What I failed to realise was that I was walking the same route that I took on my way to the Divination tower, and about 10 minutes of walking later, I came upon the second worst classroom in the world.

Seeing the French doors in front of me, my pace slowed considerably. The left one was open a quarter of the way, and the gap was large enough so someone - say a teacher of Muggle Studies - could see me walking past.

Pinning myself against the wall, I slowly slid down it, getting ready to dark across to the other side. With the 45° angle of the door, from his viewing point, the gap would have to cover... er.. 1.3 feet.

Crouching over, and getting ready to run a very fast 1.3 foot race, the ear closest to the door heard the slight murmuring coming from inside.

Curiosity taking over my self preservation instincts, I continued sliding on the wall until I was able to look clearly through the glass in the double doors.

Professor Direbrew was sitting alone in his class, but it was unmistakably him that was talking. To... himself.

"No! This was not a part of our agreement." He hissed softly.

His left hand came up to rub his face, "Actually, yes it was." He reminded... himself. "You knew coming into this that choices like these had to be made!"

"Its unethical!" He shouted, "I am a teacher! I _teach_ students. Not-"

"No!" His counterpart said, slapping himself in the face, "You said anything. You _agreed_ to anything. So that is what _we_ are going to do! _ANYTHING_!" His voice raised into a shout, causing me to let out a small start. Which led to me slightly bumping the door, and a ' _thud_ ' from it to carry through out the room.

Immediately Direbrew stopped arguing with... himself. And his-their-what? eyes snapped towards the entrance. Not wanting to be subjected to his furious blue eyes again, I darted as fast as I could. Running a lot farther then the 1.3 feet I had originally planed.

My freshly polished black dress shoes clashed against the pearly white floor and they hurried through each corridor. The squeak that they originally exuded was long gone. Now it was replaced with a ' _Clack, Thunk, Clack, Clack_ ' as the rubber souls connected with the ground.

However, that was quickly resorted back to a 'squee' when I almost ran over a short Chinese girl and her two friends.

Ruby let out a gasp "Where's the fire?" She asked frantically, looking behind me worriedly.

I gave her an annoyed glare, before turning to the other girls who where also checking for some imaginary fire that followed me. "How was Divination?"

While they panickingly looked at each other, I took the time to straighten my robes and retie my hair that had come loose during my many runs today.

"It was.. U-uh. It was fine." Ali stuttered, looking nervously at the others.

"Bit rubbish to be honest." Janet pipped in, "The Professor dropped the tea cup we where meant to read out of." The other two nodded in agreement, and I found it extremely hard to suppress my smirk.

"Speaking of Divination," My smirk grew wider upon seeing their panicking increase. But instead of prolonging their suffering, I instead brought out Janet's ' _Unfogging_ _the Future_ ' Textbook. "You left this in the dorm."

"O-oh." The dark skinned beau gave me a nervous smile and accepted it.

Stepping to the side of the hallway, the superfluous trio walked slowly past me. After about three feet, Ruby stopped and turned around, her bright blue gaze on me. "We.. saw this one symbol in the cup - before it was dropped that is- and I was wondering if you may know ... what it is?"

Seeing my eyebrow raise in curiosity, the Chinese-British girl continued, "There was a... Triquetra. At least that's what I believe it's called." She looked bashfully at the ground, "We where wondering if perhaps you knew what it meant?"

All three of them looked at me expectantly. It wasn't like I was the smartest of all of them (I was though) It had more to do with the fact I knew lots of random things.

Searching through my memory banks, an unpleasant expression formed on my face when I realised what it meant.

Turning away from them, I let out a deeply annoyed sigh. "It means destiny." I told them, walking away.

"... and what does that mean?" Ali whispered to the two of them, confusion laced in her voice.

' _It means that I need to find an un-tangible mythical source,_ ' I thought bitterly, glaring hatefully at the floor I was walking upon ' _And punch it in the metaphorical fucking face.'_

Crazy teachers, Meddling fates, Weird Prophesies. And it was only the first fucking week. Was it just me, or was this year going to shit?

* * *

 **So I fell down the stairs earlier today, slightly extremely sprained my wrist. Update may be later next week. So as a little apology for the future late update, here is the extra chapter! Yay!**

 **14.3 Pages, 4747 Words**

 **Next Chapter: Month later detentions, Tension rises, the story has its second overlap with the Harry Potter story line. Kinda, And someone really has to go piss.**

 _There was the calm before the storm. This was the first rain. Soon it will break into into the loudest thunder ever recorded. And yet no one will hear it._

 **This was probably one of my favourite chapters so far. So much goodie goodies happened. Also: FINALLY WE HAVE LIFT OFF**! **After three chapters of introduction fluff, we can finally get to the good stuff!** **_Four detentions given to the 'Train Groupies' (Don't worry, I have a better name for them - but that's in the future) Three Superfluous trio, Two split personalities, and one really pissed off Tori!_**

 **Also, the 'Muggle Master' is a play on 'Potions Master' because the two are similar in a way. They also really are not.**

 **INTERESTING CHARACTER FACT:**  
 **Ruby's parents went to Mahoutokoro School of Magic**.

 ** _ALL Questions, Comments, Schemes, Conspiracies, Queries, Ships, Art, Theories and Suggestions are appreciated ~ as long as they are appropriate._** _**(Which means don't be a**_ lil _ **' douche)**_


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